Tent



1 Jan. s, 1924. 1,480,380

R. B. ELROD TENT .Filed Dec. '7, 1922 Ffosrzr-v'r B. ELRQQ INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 8, 1924.

.umsg p A mpplicationrfi'led:Deember:

zTalcZZ .w [iamritlmay con-cm citizen .of :the cUnited States, residing v at :Lincoln, in .the county of lLancaster gfl lld 6 State of ,=Nebraska, :have inven ed ice-1:12am

new and-:usefiul :Improvements in iTents, :of which thefollowing iszzai specification.

. "My invention :;relates to .atents, and aparticularly the 1' types; ot'tents zwhichahave polygonal bases, land --which ;have. roof por- -tion's whosepitch islowerzthan that ofzthe.

sidewalls ofsthe-tent. V

The tent demanded :by the automobile tourist must be simple in construction, light in -weight,=.easily.setiupsorttaken down in 1 the minimum ofiitime, compact when: folded,

- usage -*to:-which it qnust necessarily nbe subjected While on -campin ftnips. YItJlnusthave 'few or no detachable parts which are i liable i to *become lost or misplaced i when breaking camp. The object efmy invention is to provide a tent which meets these-rcquireinents. I

5, ERe'ferring now to theidrawings-forming part of my application,

a Figure .1 i is a vertical sectional View o'f my tent, and showing my novel spreafderin place. Y Y V Figure 22gis-a plan view of my clampand the connections between the spreader arms and the clamp.

'Figure 3 is an elevation of a portion. of the tent: pole with my clamp securedthereto. Figure 4 is a plan view, as viewed from above, of the j ointecl-connect-ion of 'one of the -spreader-arms. 1

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the partshownin Figure-A.

Figure 6 is a- View similar to Figure-5. but with the toggle joint open instead of closed.

Figure 7 is a side elevation of the outer extremity of one of the spreader arms.

Figure 8 is an isometric view of one of he abutments secured to the tent in its corners and designed for engagement with the outer extremities of the spreader arms.

Numeral 10 refers generally tothe clamp which is adapted to be secured to the tent pole. The clam in this-instance comprises four L-shaped straps 11, secured together by means of bolts or other suitable securing means 12 asshown in Figure 2. The straps.

7,: 1922. ':Seria1i.No.1-.1605,432.

;1'1;,ar.e secured; tOiihGitGHt POle L3} by :means 7 connectedi-ati'l, iwithhtherbacksiof the angle iron 5 lengths facing teach" other. :The parts 15 and 116 :are. isubstantially equal. in l length.

:The, end rofztheilengthrlb is secured to one oftheears of the: clamp 10. IiIihitVG"hBl'8 provided :fo-u-r spreader arms ato. correspond with the number i of corners g ofzthe r tent.

iThe. opp osite. end 1 off the-beam 15 i is slightly upturned near. lllIlQ PlVOiZi 17, andihasr itaehan- =nel walls-and ssideewlall cut-away as sshown in :Figures .5. and l6. The: upward ben drin the beam. 15; brings ;the upper. channel wall I andf' rugged enough to withstand; the rough idf that beanie imme diately: abovei the --upper .wall of.'the'beam 1 6,' whereait is bent latumadeupwof ttvo )erally at 1 8 and then downwardly at 1 9.

This structureconstitutes ausimp le and e'it- Ifective-toggle joint an 'dilatch between-two f beams-of channel'irona i 'For locking the ends of the spreader arms into the corners of the tent and in rigidf--relation stherewith,and for preventing wear i I on the fabric ot-the tent; I; provide an :abut- -ment -p1ate :as [shown i-n 'Figure' 8. i

plate is made of sheet -meta1-bent on hits median line into the fo rm of a rightaugle.

The-plate 201i's providedwith apertures- 21,

whereby :it i-nay be secured to the 'tent on the inside corner. On the bottem edgeof the plate 20 is an extensienq20 gt l iis extension being closed at: i-t's 1ower-- endi 'a por-' tion of the sheet metal which is bent in- -ward1y -t0 -fo-rm a =wall 520 -The plate 20 with its parts 20 'and 20 are integral, be-

insi--ereferably- -stamped'-from a= sheet of cold 2 rolled-steel. The-extension 20 -and-thefwal1 20 serve two purposes. I The --edges *are rounded iwherever they -bearagainst the fabric of the tent, and the construction affords ample reinforcement for preventing the bending outof shape of the abutment plate.

Secured to both walls of the abutment plate is a bail 22. This bail is also preferably made out of cold rolled steel and is se= curely anchored at both of its ends in the plate 20. The outer end of the beam 16 is. provided with a slot 23. As shown in Figure 7 the slot 23 is first parallel withthe upper and lower edges of the beam, but it has an upturned portion at its inner end.

In my preferred construction, the length of the slot 23 is lessthan the distance between the bail 22 and the plate 20.

In use, the center pole 13 is first set up,

with its upper pin extending through the upper aperture in the canvas (I prefer the use of a sectional, collapsible tent pole).

The spreader arms are then unfolded and arms do not bear against the canvas nor even agalnst the plates 20, but they have rather a rocking engagement with the plates through the bails 22. This relation of parts not only protects the fabric when setting up the tent, but it also relieves the tent' from excessive wind strains. hen folded, the bundle is very' compact.- The pole is preferably sectional with the sections of approximately the length of the beams 15 or 16. The time consumed in setting up or in taking down the tent is reduced to the minimum because of the simplicity of construction and the small number of parts.

' I have shown and described a tent having four sides. slight modification of the structure to apply the same principle to a polygonal tent hav ing any other number of sides than fou:, and I wish it -understood that I do not relinquish any of my rights to any of the equivalents of the structures which I have shown and described.

Having fully described my invention, and

. its uses and advantages, what I believe to be new and desire to secure by Letters Pat- .ent of the United States is 1. In a tent having a single centrallypositioned tent pole, a clamp adapted to be secured to the tent pole, said clamp consisting of a plurality of L-shaped straps I=t=is of course possible by each having a long and a short leg with the. 7 short leg of one strap bearing against'the;

long leg of the adjacent strap to form ears at the corners oft-he clamp, connections between adjacent straps through the ears,

jointed arms pivotally connected'to said ears, and means at the extremities of said jointed arms for engaging the tent at the corners formed by the junction of the walls and the roof of the tent. r

2. In a tent having a single centrally-- positioned tent pole, spreader arms pivotally secured tothe tent pole, said spreader arms comprising each two channel iron beams pivotally connected at their inner extremities, a tongue projecting from the upper edge at the inner extremity of oneof the channeliron beams and over the-upper edge of the other of said channel iron'beams to constitute a toggle latch for said pivotally connected channel ironv beams, bails 1 anchored in the walls of the tent at the corners thereof, and means at the outer' extremities of said spreader arms for engag ing said bails.

3. In a tent fabric of thetent in thecorners thereof,

bails'secured to said plates, said bails: ex

having a single cent-rally- .positioned tent =pole, 'pla'tessecured to the tending transversely across the vertical corners of the tent, spreader arms pivotal'lysecured to the tent pole, and means at the? outer extremities'of said spreader arms for engaging said bails.

4. A tent having means for spreading the walls at the upper portion of the ,tent, said means comprising plates secured to the" walls ofthe tent, bails projecting from said plates, spreaderarms extending fromside to side of the tent, said spreader arms havingnotches, said notches being curved up-' Wardly at their inner :ends and having their openings at the outer extremities of I said spreader arms, thearrangeme'nt being such that when the tent is set up with they notches of the spreader arms engaging the bails the connection will permit limited rocking movement between the spreader arms and the Walls of the tent.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature. Y

ROBERT B. emon.. 

